Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ralph Muncer and Simon Bloxham.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ralph Muncer and Simon Bloxham.

Councillors Chris Lucas and Tom Plater were absent.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet on Community and Enterprise held on 9 January 2023

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 9 January 2023 be approved as true record of proceedings.

Councillor Keith Hoskins, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Mandi Tandi seconded and, by consensus, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 9 January 2023 be approved as true record of proceedings.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before debate and vote.

(1)   The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recording would be available on the NHDC website and the film recording via the NHDC YouTube channel.

(2)   The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(3)   The Chair advised participants they would need to use their ‘Raise Hand’ function on Zoom to request to speak.

(1)   The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recording would be available on the NHDC website and the film recording via the NHDC YouTube channel.

(2)   The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(3)   The Chair advised participants they would need to use their ‘Raise Hand’ function on Zoom to request to speak.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no other business notified.

There was no other business notified.

To receive any petitions, comments and questions from the public.

The Chair confirmed that the expected public presenters and participants were in attendance.

The Chair confirmed that the expected public presenters and participants were in attendance.

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE LICENSING AND COMMUNITY SAFETY MANAGER

To consider and discuss a Women’s Safety Charter for North Hertfordshire district.

The following public participants provided presentations to the Committee on the topic of ‘Creating a Women’s Safety Charter’:

·       Caroline Thwaites

·       Bob Mardon

·       Cassie Harman

·       Kerrie Portman

The Chair invited Caroline Thwaites to provide the Panel with a presentation on the Southwark Council’s Women’s Safety Charter. Ms Thwaites thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided a verbal presentation, which included that:

·       She was the Community Safety portfolio head at Southwark Council and had been involved in this work for 25 years, including the development and introduction of the Women’s Charter in 2014.

·       Southwark was a London borough with a population of around 300k and an average age of 34, making it comparatively young.

·       The police area was one of the busiest in London in terms of number of crimes and severity of these.

·       The discussion around women’s safety had changed since the launch of the Charter in 2014, with a number of tragic high-profile deaths, and the safety of women had been adopted as a Council priority over the last few years.

·       In 2014 there was a focus on a ‘Fairer Future’ priority, which had been a consultative approach alongside Hollaback, and spoke primarily to females, as at the time there was a clear picture of harassment in licensed venues and premises.

·       It was reported at the time that the behaviour had been normalised and that the harassment was generally left unreported.

·       Having spoken to the premises, they requested the Council to support them in helping develop tools to not just deal with harassment, but also any potential escalation to violence.

·       There was a key pledge developed, which sought to bring in some key principles that all venues would follow, these were: visibility of the campaign, clarity in venue acting effectively, taking reporting seriously, training for front of house staff and active support for victims.

·       130 venues signed up by the launch and this was targeted at known areas in Southwark where the issue was the most extreme and encouraging venues to do this as part of their licence application.

·       There was a conversation about whether this could be required as a licensing condition, but it was advised that this was not possible as the change would be required to come from central government.

·       There had been progress made on the safety of women across London boroughs and there was now a focus on evaluating how the scheme was still performing and whether it could be refreshed in line with other, national initiatives.

·       This evaluation work would not look to encompass a wider group to consult with on its contents.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Keith Hoskins

·       Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg

·       Councillor Ian Albert

·       Councillor Mandi Tandi

In response to questions, Ms Thwaite advised that:

·       When the Charter was first introduced around 15-20% of businesses in the area signed up. This had decreased due to the pandemic, as well as the emergence of other national campaigns, but it was hoped the work could be refreshed and improved.

·       It was not just about residents, but also those from outside the borough visiting.

·       It was important to have a clear and consistent message as part of the campaign  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

To discuss concerns, issues and experiences with members of the LGBTQ+ community.

A presentation was received from Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, the Operations and Facilities Manager at North Herts Museum, on LGBTQ+ History Month at the Museum.

A presentation was received from Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, the Operations and Facilities Manager at North Herts Museum, on LGBTQ+ History Month at the Museum, who advised that:

·         The museum had always supported Pride History Month and that a flag would be flown outside the building throughout the duration of the month.

·         They had tried to collate more material to support the display, with more details from around the district.

·         The display this year had been heavy on trans issues, as these were felt to be at the forefront of LGBTQ+ discussions today.

·         The display had been modelled on sex, sexuality and gender – sex being the parts one has, sexuality being how you choose to use these and gender about how one might hide these.

·         Sex is not binary and noted that in 60% of skeletons it is not possible to determine whether they were male or female.

·         There had been an example of anti-trans hate leaflets distributed throughout the museum this year and this had been reported to the police as a hate crime.

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg commented that the Pride History Month display at the museum was always fantastic and commended Keith and his staff. She noted that there would usually be a flag flown at the Council Offices, but this had been replaced by the Ukraine flag this year owing to the ongoing conflict. She highlighted that all women deserve a safe space, and that all women included trans women, who have the right to exist anywhere. She hoped that North Herts Pride had been a beacon against hate in North Herts.

Bob Mardon from Club 85 noted that their venue did not have specific plans to celebrate Pride Month, as it was felt the staff at the venue did enough to promote the rights of LGBTQ+ community without a flag being raised.

The Chair to lead a Member’s discussion on potential actions arising from the Group Discussion.

There was no further discussion at this point of the meeting from Members, Officers or members of the public.

There was no further discussion at this point of the meeting from Members, Officers or members of the public.

The Chair to lead a dsicussion to consider possible future agenda items.

The Chair led a discussion on possible future agenda item topics, which included exploring the Women’s Safety Charter alongside representatives from the wider community, including from an enterprise angle. It was also suggested that Churchgate and the wider North Herts economy be discussed at a future meeting.

The Chair led a discussion on possible future agenda item topics, which included exploring the Women’s Safety Charter alongside representatives from the wider community, including from an enterprise angle. It was also suggested that Churchgate and the wider North Herts economy be discussed at a future meeting.